Write a story inspired by this quote from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: “In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”

Posted in Fiction on Mar 10, 2023

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✍️ 66 stories

“First Steps” by S. M. Lewis

Submitted to Contest #189

In the stillness of his empty church, the preacher must’ve heard my body leaning against the creaky doorframe.“The doors are open, you know.” Despite his back being to me, his voice reverberated across the wooden pews with a particularly booming bass, which didn’t ease my conscience.“Middle ground suits me just fine,” I called back, holding my position. I knew I had to go in there eventually, but I wanted to dwell in denial for a bit longer. Did Trudy really want this story so badly? She should’ve gone after it herself. The suits are never w...

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“Alone.thoughts.remastered.dot.com” by Bente Mirow

Submitted to Contest #189

Alone.thoughts.remastered.dot.com. I roar. I am alone. It’s dark here. I roar to scare myself. Away. In the wood’s depth and darkness, the creatures of my mind linger, waiting to annihilate me in their appetite for meat and drive for a full stomach. Their illusory presence obstructs my path and forces me to stop. I imagine my own personal inferno, where the control centers of my capable mind are habitually abandoned by myself as I choose to obey such demands induced by fears or insecure thinking. We all like to stay small. It’s a human dri...

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“Journey into Hell” by Nancy Hibbert

Submitted to Contest #189

I have a story you won’t believe. I don’t care. My telling is more important than your believing. Have you heard of Maundy Thursday? It is the Thursday before Easter. That'is when my story begins. I was thirty-five and had lost another job. I could see blessings existed but my every path seemed to lead to disaster. Fitting in nowhere, depression tasted bitter as death. Choked like a hangman’s noose. Each rejection, sunk me deeper until I couldn’t escape the mire. That was when I saw the dark, distant figure and desperately cried out. “He...

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“In a Dark Wood” by Connor White

Submitted to Contest #189

His eyes fluttered open, the smell of the campfire stuck to his clothes, the dense canopy of the forest hindered what motes of midday sun escaped through the obstructing dark clouds above, and what pitiful light graced the forest floor revealed only underbrush, no shelter from the weather, no clearing of foliage fit for resting, no ashen remains of a campfire, and no signs of his friends or an indication he had ever occupied this space any sooner than his eyes laid upon it. The darkness from the night before made finding any differences or s...

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“"Why do you hate yourself?"” by Rose Bower

Submitted to Contest #189

Trigger warning: Substance abuse, mental health and mentions of suicide. The following story was inspired by a certain tumblr conversation. Always drinking, never thinking. That's what the townsfolk say about me. I don't care what they think, not really. The people in town don't understand, they don't feel what I feel, or think what I think. No one would know the pain I am in, because I bury it underneath piles and piles of cans and beer bottles. Now, standing at the edge of the dark forest, smoking a cigarette, I feel empty. People have s...

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“Neon Letters ” by Jackson Adame-Covey

Submitted to Contest #189

I sat in my room, my nose dripping blood onto my cedar desk. My palms rested on the wood, and my skin was as pale as starlight. In front of me lay a small thin point syringe. I had bought it a few days before. It was filled with diluted fentanyl. I stared at it with longing eyes. My gaze cut holes in the desk, lasering down cedar and sending fumes billowing from the wood. The syringe was filled with narcotic lifeblood. My escape to Neverland was always preluded by this stare off. Me vs. it. Like two cowboys staring each other down before tak...

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Write a story inspired by this quote from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: “In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”

Submissions are closed

✍️ 66 stories

“First Steps” by S. M. Lewis

“Alone.thoughts.remastered.dot.com” by Bente Mirow

“Journey into Hell” by Nancy Hibbert

“In a Dark Wood” by Connor White

“"Why do you hate yourself?"” by Rose Bower

“Neon Letters ” by Jackson Adame-Covey

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story where a character must continue to tell their tale to a listener to avoid unsavory consequences.

Write a story about a fox spirit (a gumiho, jiǔwěihú, kitsune, or hồ ly tinh), inspired by, e.g. Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese folklore.

Write a modern version of "The Tiger, the Brahmin, and the Jackal," in which someone suffers from their own good deeds and must turn to an unlikely source for help.

Start your story with “It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark.” (Hans Christian Andersen, “The Little Match Girl”)

Contest #189

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

281

Contest entries

121

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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